Nowhere Tales
by El Santosa
Summary: Heath and Nicco are trapped in an unexplained romantic relationship as the new Bremin Four went on an adventure in the Alternate Universe where Felix, Jake, Sam, and Andy disappeared years before. Only this time, crossing dimensions is not enough...
1. Heath

**HEATH**

I crossed dimensions, I fight a mega demon, I—farted—fire, and I put chickens in Principal Bates' office, but I never had even a drop of bravery to tell her.

It's been months since the Good Ben back to his world. And we, four teenagers with nothing in common that happened to be gifted with elemental powers, were growing from a normal classmates that rarely greet each other to friends. Kinda best friends, actually. And it's all not because of the magic thing we all shared together. Maybe it was, but it's all about friendship now—for Luke and Jesse. As for Nicco, it started to be something else.

"Heath!" her crisp voice knocked my eardrums. She waved as she run towards me, still in her soccer uniform and her sport bag hanging on her left shoulder. Her thick, curly hair swinging loosely on its ponytail, looks a little bit messy and sweaty but still okay. And her eyes… they caught my sight the most. So bright, so cheerful, and when they are combined with that cute smile and her slightly chubby cheeks, that's a legit breath taker.

"Glad you can make it."

"I came as soon as I got your message." she dropped her bag, "Where's Luke and Jesse?"

"Still can't reach Jesse, but Luke is on the way."

Nicco walked into the circle I made, then sit cross-legged, grab a handful of dirt and stir it on her palm using her power, something she considered as a 'warm up' before doing the 'real' magic. I sit next to her, looking as she formed her dirt into a mini lizard, before make it surprisingly jumped on me.

"What the—!" I shriek when I feel that little, nasty thing crawled on my skin.

"You have such a cute girl scream!" she laughed while make her lizard crawled to the grass before turn it back into a lifeless, normal piece of dirt.

"I didn't—I was surprised."

"We all know you're a scaredy-cat."

"As if you're not."

"I'm not and you guys all know that... No, ADMIT that." she smiles proudly, which just makes her even cuter, and also makes my heart beats faster as I thought that she might be able to hear it. I've never felt this way to any girl, not even Brooklyn. I mean, I did love her, and the heart desire spell only worked with her hair which is a solid prove that I still fell for her, but not like this. Not this intense, not this happy and torturing at the same time, not this complicated and indescribable.

"There's something I want to tell you..." I mumbled. Again, by surprise, she answered when I thought that she couldn't catch my voice between the cold autumn breeze. She raises her eyebrows, waiting.

I take a deep breath. Even though I prefer to fight a demon than look directly into her eyes—no, kidding—I have to do it. Whatever the result is, I'll take it. Even when it means that she might punch me on the face. Earth on Fire, I can handle it, physically. Mentally, not so sure. Even though I know this isn't the best time, but I have to. I can't hold it much longer. I have to do it. It's now or never.

"Iloveyouwouldyouliketobemygirfriend?"

Her dark eyebrows changed into a frowned ones, "Come again?"

I gulped. With sweat that started to fall down my face, I say it as clear as I can, "I love you. And I mean, really, love you. More than just a friend, best friend, or magic training partner…"

Her beautiful face only shows a shock, nothing else. For a moment, there's only choking silence that makes me wanna run as far as possible from here, hiding somewhere underwater before I burn something in my backyard because of massive amount of nerves.

"Heath, I—" she look at me. A different stare, with a small amount of tears on it. I only have seen that kind of look when she admitted that she was cheating during Science test, and it does look so much worse knowing that that stare came right after I said that I love her. Her voice is a little bit cracked when she talked again, saying something that not surprise me but still hurt deep inside. Broke me immediately.

"I can't"


	2. Jesse

**JESSE**

"There you are!" Luke stands as soon as he saw me running, struggling between my kendo stick and the weight of my bag, "Where have you been, man? We tried to call you like hundreds of times."

"It's the worst day ever! Like, ever ever forever! The new English teacher is a definition of total no-fun!" I said between my breath, "She extended my detention time, and confiscated my phone and turned it off since it didn't stop ringing! I told her it's an emergency, but since the caller is _you_ , she thought it was just an excuse so I could left the detention early. And the worst of it, Quinn couldn't pick me up so I have to walk here, and stepped on dog poop with my new shoes" I raise my leg so they can see that nasty thing, "So, what's the magic emergency?" I'm looking at the guy who flooded my inbox with messages about this meeting, but he doesn't seem to listen to me at all, "Heath!"

"Hey! Yeah… It's… This book." he took out a hard covered, A5 paper-sized book which doesn't look appealing even for a display in an antique shop from his bag.

"Is that—?"

He nodded, "A Book of Shadows. And it looks ancient."

Luke takes a closer look on the book, "Where did you find it?"

"Near a fallen big tree not far from my usual jogging track inside the Bremin Forest. It looks like it was buried there before, right under the roots. I tried to open it, but I can't."

"You're right." Luke finally giving up after a few failed attempts of opening the book with his bare hands, "No seal, no lock… It's like the pages are super-glued."

"Not glued." Nicco talked for the first time since I've arrived, which is so weird because I know that she won't be able to hold the urge to act like she knows everything. It's not that hard to tell that she has something going on inside her head, something that either too bad or too good. Whatever it is, that kind of Nicco does need help, or at least a comfort. But as always, she's too prestigious to ask.

"It's sealed with magic."

"Magically sealed?!" I turned my voice down after my friends hushed me for saying it too loud, "Cool!"

"Then maybe we shouldn't bother to try to open it." Luke said, "What if by doing that, we accidently release somekind of another mega demon into this world?"

Heath answered with another question, "What if this book has something that we're looking for? We owe Ellen. She did help us, a lot. At least we can do something to help her helping her friends get their magic back."

I raised my hand, "Felix is not just a _friend_. He's her _boyfriend_."

"Thanks for the correction, Jesse. So, what would you say?"

"I'm in!" I said in excitement while looking at the rest of the group, "Oh, come on! Luke?"

"Uh… I'm not sure. But, yeah… I'll do it. But if something DOES come out…"

"Then we'll fight it together like before. We're so much better now, aren't we?"

"Nicco?" Heath was clearly whispered to her, but his sight is focused on… I don't know, the remaining poop on the tip of my left shoe?

"Then we need an unlocking spell." she took out her phone, "I think I wrote that one here…"

"You know it's too risky keeping spells in your phone, right?"

She squinted her eyes at me, "I know, Jesse. Just didn't have the time to write in in my Book of Shadows yet… Here. First we have to put our elements in, then say the spell together." she cleared her throat before start reading it, " _Keeper of wisdom, heed my call. Transcend your bonds and reveal to all. Earth… water… air… fire…_ "

A few mojo dojo later, the pages of the book suddenly open by themselves before stopped at a random page.

"See? No demon thingy."

Luke frowned, "Then why did you grab your kendo stick?"

"It's an act of prevention." I put my stick away and look at the open page, "What's that?"

"It's a spell…" Nicco stopped to read the title, "A… restoration spell?"

"Restoration?! What kind of restoration?"

"No way…" her eyes widened in disbelief, "Elemental power restoration."


	3. Luke

**LUKE**

Ellen exhales. Her green eyes exploring the altar she just created with her boyfriend and said, "Here we are… After 4 years of no luck." she turned at her students at both Science and magic, "I can't get enough of thanking you guys."

"And so do us." Sam lifted his face from the circle he draws around the altar, "Turns out, I just can't live a normal, happy life. As hard as I try, everything didn't seem to be the same without magic. Especially, after what happened to Mia."

"And my drowned girlfriend soon to be fiancée." Andy said while spreading the last salt that divided the circle in four with sorrows.

Jake looked at him, "Or my mom."

"And those nightmares I got since…" Felix cleared his throat, "We weren't perfect with our magic, but obviously worse without it. After all that had happened, it seems we can't just let go the urge to save everyone."

"And feels like they are your responsibility instead of accepting that it was just a tragic accident…" Ellen squeezes Felix hand, "It wasn't your fault, Felix."

I hate to break their hope or this emotional tragic moments sharing. But to be honest, I'm not sure that book is the answer we were looking for. Just because it looks ancient, magically sealed, and suddenly showed a page about restoration spell, doesn't mean that there's no harm inside. Besides, it was the same kind of book that made Felix and the boys lost their power in the first place. Well, not directly, but still the same. I tried to tell my friends about that, but none of them believe it. They thought I was just being paranoid as always, even though they know as much as I do, that my paranoid wasn't never just a heightened fear. It was—almost—always happened sooner or later. Like some kind of premonition.

And that spell is also weird. The words, the complicated ingredients, and the ritual… neither of them sound right to me. But instead of going with my parents to my grandma's house, I decided to be here, help them preparing the ritual and agreed to represent the Air element for the spell. Despite all the nags I feel in my stomach, I choose to stay quiet, keep my mouth shut instead of telling somebody to abort this ritual and looking for other more promising, safer way.

"Just relax." Jesse whispered.

"I am."

The theater geek rolled his eyes, "I know fear everywhere, Luke."

"Well, what do you expect? I don't like this idea since we opened the book."

"What's with that book that you're so afraid of?"

"Just like I said, I don't know. I just… don't feel anything good about it."

"Give it the try. Nothing bad would happen, I promise. Well, other than the chance that Nicco is going to explode."

"Explode?! Like, _kaboom_?"

"No, silly! Something like an endless cry or chaotic anger…" he nodded at the girl who leaned on a tree near the altar with Book of Shadows in hand, "Do you think she's really reading?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Looks like it."

"Then tell me how do you read an upside down book?" Jesse shook his head, "There's something wrong with her. A bad thing, I must say, since I feel that she started to push everyone away. If I hadn't know Nicco that much, I wouldn't be this worry. I don't want to repeat what happened at our first training without Ellen."

"Ugh… me either." I cringed just by remember it, "Good. Now there's another reason for me to be scared. Maybe we should really not do the spell."

"Oh, Luke…" Jesse hopelessly look at me, "Please. You know we can't do this without you, just—"

"Everything's ready." Sam said as he cleaned his hands, "Let's do this."

"If you guys have a doubt about it—"

"No, we're good." Jesse cuts both Felix words and mine (which haven't been spoken, obviously), ignoring my annoyed glare.

"Okay, everyone in position."

The boys each stands in one part of the divided circle. Ellen, who acted as a bind for the spell as written on the book—which was the very first thing I noticed as the spell weirdness—lighted the four candles on the altar before we chant the spell.

 _Back in time, I recall Thee…_

 _The lost elements, spoken for remedy…_

 _Earth, fire, air, water..._

 _Make Ye past bind them forever…_

A cold breeze spin around us as we repeated the spell. It becomes faster and faster that at one point, almost blow the candles off. Ellen managed to keep the fire ignite, though. But I started to notice that she's worried, which quickly turned into a fear when the wind started to form a tornado with us in the middle.

After a blare of white light and hurtful hit on my chest, I know that I was right all along. I found myself with nothing than my stubborn friends, in a place that doesn't look like a part of Bremin forest where the ley lines intersect. The boys are gone, Ellen is gone, and so do the Book of Shadows and the talisman.

And the worst of all, there's a flock of crazy crows flying straight to us.


	4. Nicco

**NICCO**

The only one who is able to catch my speed was Heath. Luke was left because he tried to perform his signature 'supernado' power towards the crows, which is of course, a total failure. While Jesse... well, he is still the same Jesse I've known my whole life. Really not a runner material.

We keep running at this unusually quiet road of Bremin, until we found the first unlocked building in sight: a magic shop. Which is as long as I can remember, was closed years ago.

"I'm sorry but we're closed for today." said the dark clothed, creepy looking lady who seems to own these junks. Jesse locked the door, and still with panting breath, he said, or more precisely, shout at her, which apparently make her even more pissed. "There's a flock! A full, crazy flock! Of crows!" his eyes widened along with his vague movements, "And they chased us! As if we were waving a string of fresh popcorns at them."

"We need a shelter and this is the closest we can get." I moved closer as I saw the lady was about to open her mouth, "After they're gone, we'll leave."

" _If_ they're gone." Luke stares at me, then Heath, but skipped Jesse as anger started to filling his stare, "I told you guys this is dangerous! But no one listened!"

I swallow the guilt, the biggest, perhaps, because I was the one who insisted to do this spell and ignoring the Air guy, even though I know that his instinct is the strongest of all of us. I insisted because I need an escape. I want to do the spell just to release my mixed emotion after Heath confessed his feeling for me. I really want to punch him to say that, but I can't do that either. Now after all these time, after making me the third wheel in every 'date' he had in order to win Brooklyn's heart once again, after our late night phone calls just to talk about her, and when he finally realize that all of his efforts were useless, he said that he loves me. He said it at the moment when I was only a breath away of winning the war against my feeling towards him, a crush that started to spark because of us spending so much time together, then become a love that stupidly growing each day.

"Now we lost the talisman! And have no idea where did the boys go, or Ellen. Basically, we trapped here! In a place that I believe is not our dimension."

"Someone said _dimension_?" Felix swings the shell curtain behind the creepy lady. He looks very tired, and skinnier than the one I remember. Everyone in the room turned at him, surprised but happy. And the first one who expressed it was Jesse.

"I'm glad we found you! But what happened to your clothes? And hair?" he said using his fashion critique tone, "And where are the others?"

"You remember me?!" the goth's eyes widened in disbelief, "And Jake, Sam, and Andy?"

"Of course we do! You were with us when we did the spell."

Some footsteps approaching. "The spell?!" Sam sneaks his head between the curtains, "You're a witch too?"

"More than that." Felix turned at him, "They remember us. And it looks like they've crossed dimensions too."

"Oh good, another stupid people that casted the Unmaking Spell..." Jake came behind him. His face tells nothing than anger, which he brings along in every step he took toward the window to peek from its blinds. Now I know something isn't right. And it's not only about the clothes and hairstyle that Jesse keep asking to the boys. It's more than that. It looks like they all are younger, maybe in the same age as me, and clearly they don't know a lot about magic when Felix showed us the broken talisman and said that he have no idea how to fix it, which is I know was written in his Book of Shadows.

 _Our_ Felix's Book of Shadows.

The answer hit me a soon as one of the crows started to bang the window, trying to break the glass and make its way in. We're not only crossing dimensions, we've crossed time. To the day where the boys were 'lost' in the school excursion. To the day that they were still a group of clueless teenagers in a universe where they were never born. When a Restoring Demon still wandering around universes to fix any magical disturbance.

The crows finally managed to break the window's glass, followed by its friends on the other window. Suddenly, the place is filled by dark feathers, caws, and fluttering wings, and our footsteps leaving for the backdoor.

"We have to do something!"

"Yeah, keep saying it, Nerd! It's very helping!"

Again, we run for our life. But this time only until we reached a yellow Kombi and stuffed ourselves in it.

"Phoebe, go!"

But the Kombi doesn't start no matter how much Phoebe try to turn on the engine while cursing in mumble. I hear the crows coming closer, cawing in distance. Not at all lost its appetite to attack us, or worse, try to kill us. In the middle of desperation, I felt Heath's warm grip around my hand that I don't even realize is shaking. His stare trying to give me calmness and support as he did after my mom and Yiayia were disappeared. The first time the crush was sparking.

The crows only need seconds to finally reach the Kombi. Screams and fears were unavoidable when they started to pecking the glass, especially from Jesse, who almost made me deaf with his 6 octave voice.

" _Divinity of the elements, I summon Thee. Air, fire, water and earth. Aid in my quest, I call you forth!_ "

Without any _poof_ , without any wind or fire, the crows are suddenly gone. Instead of a form of elemental attack, there are four boys outside, running to the Kombi with one of them bringing a talisman. The _working_ talisman. While the other one, whose his younger self could do nothing than rubbing his eyes and said something about momentum, holding the ancient Book of Shadows.

"You can do magic! The spell worked!"

"Yeah, thanks to you and your friends, Jesse. But we have to—"

"What?!" Felix looking at his older self, "How? Who?"

"Are you coming from the future?"

The older Andy answered his confused yet excited younger self, "Sort of."

"If that so, are Mia and I still together? Do I still popular? Because it sucks to be not."

"And why do I—I mean, you," Jake nodded to the tallest of the 22 years olds, "still hanging around with him?! The one who put us here?"

"You all will know about that." the older Jake said before turned at me, "We have to go. It's too many magical disturbances here."

"And the spell won't hold the demon off for too long." Felix added, "By the way, it's nice to see you again, Phoebe."

"I don't feel like I should, but me too, Felix." it's weird to see Phoebe smiles. Like looking at a bad carved Halloween pumpkin.

A sudden earthquake makes me fall directly into Heath's arm. And I hate to admit that I wish I didn't have to quickly stand up and awkwardly took two steps away from him while ignoring Jesse's annoying smile. "Jake's right. We have to go. I don't wanna die here."

"We're from the same universe, aren't we? Can you take us too?"

"Same universe, yes. But different timeline. I'm sorry but you have to go on your own." I moved more further from Heath as the two Felixes are talking, "Fix the talisman. Recast—"

"Felix!" I pointed at the dark clouds with some lightning and thunder above us, "We really have to go!"

" _Divinity of the elements, I summon Thee…_ " the older Sam started the spell, followed by the rest of us but Felix, who still shouting directions to his younger self between the crazy winds spiraling around us. "Recast the Activation Spell! You're gonna need Oscar! Then do the Unmaking Spell. All of you!"

" _…_ _return us all to where we want to be. Take this Earth, Fire, Water, Air. Universe reclaim and repair!_ "

The next thing I know is I'm sitting on a bunch of orange leaves and branches, a few meters from the Altar that Ellen made. She still standing on her place, hands covering the four candles she ignited from a slow breeze left from the tornado that left a perfect circle mark around us.

"What happened?!" she run towards her boyfriend, "I can't see anything other than the candles. Did it work?!"

Sam blows Felix hair with the wind controlled by his hand and smiles. "Perfectly."

"And you? Are you okay?"

"We're good." Luke answered, "It wasn't a bad idea, by the way. You know, the spell."

Jesse shook his head and tap his friend's shoulder, saying that next time he will listen to him. "Maybe with a little argument." he added, "Life's not fun without it. Right?"

"Anyway, thank you so much, again and forever."

"Free ticket to your next game?" I asked.

Jake smiles, "Sure. And every game I play after that if you want."

While the boys are testing their newly-returned elemental powers, Heath whispered at me. So low and almost unheard between Ellen's scream when Andy accidentally splashed a bit of water on her shirt, "Can we talk?"

I nodded and wait. But Heath shakes his head and whispered again, "Not here."

No one seems to notice that we were leaving, not even Jesse since he was too busy being a judge of water-ball ping pong between Ellen and Andy. "I think it's far enough." I stopped after we walked for a while, fold my hand on top of my chest and lean my back on a tree that hide myself perfectly from the group of people laughing in background, "What do you want to say?"

"I can't stop thinking about what happened the other day." he looks at me deeply, "There's something wrong. Something that makes you so mad and avoiding me in the last three days."

"I did that to everyone, so don't take it personally."

"Maybe I can't read, but I'm not blind." he said, "You're acting like you don't wanna see me again. That somehow, we've became enemies."

"Then so be it!" I can feel sorrow even though every word was spoken as an anger, "It will be the best for everyone! The best for me!"

"Nicco please… Don't—don't say that. I can't—"

"Yes, you can! It's not like me and Brooklyn are—" I gulped to hold my tears, "This conversation is done! We're done!"

"Why didn't you say it?" his voice stopped me from leaving, " Why did you act like you didn't want it?"

"Want what?!"

"Us. Together." I heard his footsteps are coming closer, "I saw it in your eyes. You were so upset when I expressed my feeling as if you were hoping that I never said that. But then, I see something else..." he stopped, "It also hurt you, in a way that I didn't understand. Until now... It's all because of Brooklyn, isn't it? You were jealous."

"I'm not."

"I never try to win her back. She was the one who wants us to be together again. That's why I always asked you to go with us, and also the only reason why I talked about her in our phone calls is because I thought that it would be the only thing that will keep our conversation. Which is now sounds really stupid."

"You can simply say no."

"To the spoiled daughter of the school's Principal that already hates me? I still want to graduate, Nicco."

"You're lying!"

"You can use the Truth Spell." he sighed, "I love you. And I—"

"Stop it! Please..." I said, "Save it for someone who really cares. I wouldn't change my mind."

"I'll be surprised if you do. But at least, please, can we still be friends?"

I wiped my tears once again before turned back at him, "No. We can't! I don't wanna be your friend anymore..." his eyes filled with a lot more sorrows, "I don't wanna be someone you'd call every night only to talk about another girl. I don't wanna be someone you'd do the magic training with. And I've done being a third wheel on your dates. I don't wanna do any of it. Not again! I want to be more than just a friend to you. I want to—"

His warm and soft lips touched mine with a sweet, deep kiss. So loving and caring. Which make me crave for more. Somehow, he knows about it, because the kiss doesn't end in a blink of an eye, that now both completely closed, mine and his. And even this is mean that I finally lose in the war I was in, I don't regret it. Actually, I waved the white flag proudly, since I know that happiness is the only punishment I would get.

"Hey, Lovebirds!" Felix's voice echoed inside the forest, "You want to go home or not?"

We drifted apart, realizing that the night is falling during our moment. "I can't wait to get my driving license." he laughed, "It's kinda suck not able to drive on my own."

"You did it before." I said while we were walking together.

"In the Empty World." Heath grabbed my hand, "I don't wanna have any more problem with the cops."

I giggled, "Yeah. Right. The worst time of our life."

"Nah. Not the worst." he looked at me, "Remember us being the only person left in Bremin? Some spell could do a Mega Demon, but not the cops."

I raised my shoulder, "An earthquake will."

Heath laugh while shaking his head, and I feel that his grip is getting tighter. Not in the way that hurt me, but more like a promise.

A vow of a bright beginning.


End file.
